-Compiled and edited by Mike Dolan, PhD
Plain language summary of fluoride exposure and ADHD risk posted
The Canadian researcher who has discovered an association between childhood fluoride exposure from drinking water and increased risk of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has just posted a plain language summary of her work in which she writes,
“Higher fluoride levels in tap water and living in an area with community water fluoridation (CWF) was associated with more hyperactive/inattentive symptoms in adolescents.”
The researchers found, “An increase of 0.5 mg/L of fluoride in tap water was associated with a rise in ADHD prevalence from 5.5% to 14%.”
They conclude that the public health profession needs to consider new evidence on fluoride before allowing this childhood exposure to continue, writing, “Fluoridation of public water supplies has been a debated topic for many decades. A growing body of evidence – including the results of this study – indicates that fluoride may be associated with adverse health effects. Given the enormous public health implications, a comparison of the potential risks and benefits of community water fluoridation is urgently needed with an emphasis on vulnerable populations. Because of the unique vulnerability of the developing brain, there is a greater potential for adverse outcomes due to early childhood fluoride exposure. The field of public health must be open to reviewing existing policies as new evidence accumulates.”
The research snapshot can be seen here: https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/bitstream/11375/27295/1/Fluoride%20exposure%20and%20attention%20deficit%20hyperactivity%20disorder%20%28ADHD%29%20in%20Canadian%20youth%20-%20Jan%202022.pdf
The original peer-reviewed report in Environment International can be seen here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.105190
British study of NHS statistics finds no overall treatment benefit of fluoridation
A report by dental public health bureaucrats in the United Kingdom that intended to show how National Health Service records of intervention can be used to reveal the benefits of water fluoridation has failed to find such benefits.
The project compared records for use of dental services from 15 fluoridated and non-fluoridated city and borough councils, consisting of over 2 million pediatric courses of treatment.
While the authors report,
“Water fluoridation was associated with a significant reduction in dental interventions in the most deprived populations,”
they emphasize their main finding that
“Little variation in the proportion of …courses of treatment is observed between dental practices in fluoridated and non-fluoridated local authorities.”
This absence of any consistent pattern of differences in dental treatment needs between fluoridated and socio-demographically similar non-fluoridated areas is shown by their Figure 2. In this figure the blue bars represent dental treatments in fluoridated communities and the adjacent gray bars for similar non-fluoridated communities.
They conclude,
“Overall, the proportion of ……courses of treatment in all fluoridated and all non-fluoridated areas are essentially the same.”
Source: NHS dental activity: a population marker for the effectiveness of community water fluoridation in children in England, by Henein C, & Landes D., British Dental Journal, January 14, 2022, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-021-3822-1
On FAN, https://fluoridealert.org/studytracker/41464/
Oral Health in America report shows little progress in 20 years
In the 20 years since the 2000 US Surgeon General’s Oral Health report, the USA has seen little progress in improving the oral health of its population, according to an analysis of the new federal Oral Health in America report by the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation (NYSCOF).
According to NYSCOF’s analysis of the report:
-The military continues to face challenges in meeting recruitment goals and military readiness because of oral health-related issues.
-Untreated cavities among the poor remain twice that of non-poor. Disparities persist by race/ethnicity status.
-Primary tooth decay increased in boys aged 6-11 and didn’t change in adolescents’ and adults’ permanent teeth.
-Untreated decay in permanent teeth shows no progress.
-In ages 2-11, decayed tooth surfaces increased with a greater impact on boys.
-Four out of 5 Americans aged 6 years and older experience cavities, irrespective of poverty or race/ethnicity status.
-40% of children have eroded teeth.
The report does contain a massive list of all the authorities who wrote it, over 300 writers plus dozens of editors, although there is no indication of which author wrote each section.
The percentage of the US population with fluoridation has increased in the past 20 years, and the US is one of the most fluoridated countries in the world, so the lack of progress in many measures of tooth decay suggests fluoridation is not able to solve these problems.
Fluoride interferes with parotid gland metabolism, cytoskeleton in mice
Ingestion of fluoride-laced water for 60 days significantly altered the metabolism of the saliva-producing parotid glands in mice, according to a new report from Brazilian dental investigators in PLoS One, January 27.
The mice were given water with 0, 10 or 50 milligrams per liter of fluoride, which is not excessive for comparisons with humans. As the authors noted, “In order to establish comparable serum fluoride levels, evidence suggests that the fluoride content in drinking water of rodents should exceed four to five times the concentration for humans.”
Water-based fluoride exposure created oxidative stress in the gland cells, and interfered with the production of tubulin protein that makes up the microtubule cytoskeleton. The investigators did not find a genotoxic effect that would result in DNA damage, nor could they comment on the toxin’s effect on saliva production and composition.
“It is worth highlighting that the results do not support that these alterations produced modifications in the salivary composition. Thus, studies that evaluate the product of these glands are necessary to better understand the effects of fluoride on the glands and saliva,” write the authors.
Source: Miranda et al., 2022. Effects of long-term fluoride exposure are associated with oxidative biochemistry impairment and global proteomic modulation, but not genotoxicity, in parotid glands of mice, PLOS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261252
On FAN, https://fluoridealert.org/studytracker/41654/
Fluoridated tooth brushing found to be ineffective in removing oral biofilm overnight
Brushing teeth with fluoridated toothpaste, or with non-fluoridated hydroxyapatite-based pastes have no more effect on removing oral biofilm than not brushing at all, according to a new report in the International Journal of Dental Hygiene.
The researchers used enamel slabs placed in the oral cavity, either before or after toothbrushing, so as to detect any indirect anti-biofilm activity from the toothpaste-saliva-slurry-residuals and any direct effect of exposure to toothpaste. The enamel specimens were left in the oral cavity for 8 hours overnight.
They used fluorescence microscopy to quantify the number of adherent microorganisms.
“Within the limitations of the present pilot study, it can be concluded that in patients
with good oral hygiene, dentifrices and their chemical composition have no statistically significant effect on the initial bacterial colonization of enamel platelets in situ, irrespectively of the mode of application,” conclude the authors from two German dental programs.
Source: Rosenauer et al., 2022. Direct and indirect effects of different dentifrices on the initial bacterial colonization of enamel in situ overnight, International Journal of Dental Hygiene, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/idh.12581
A low-key activist task
Fluoride Deception, Case Against Fluoride need to be in more public libraries
A recent view of the Central and Western Massachusetts Automated Resource Sharing (C/W MARS) system of public library catalogs revealed that very few of these libraries have either Connett et al.’s The Case Against Fluoride or Bryson’s The Fluoride Deception. Of the 150 libraries in this system, eight have the former book and only one has the later.
These two books are crucial to understanding opposition to water fluoridation, and should be in every public library.
Using “fluoridation” for a keyword search, the book that is most common (28 libraries) is The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science and Fear by Seth Mnookin, which mentions water fluoridation in passing on two pages.
A nice, low-key activist goal would be to encourage local libraries to purchase these books for their circulating collections.
Local libraries often emphasize health-related topics, so they should see the value of adding these titles. A written petition with 10 or so signatures should do the trick.
If the librarian balks, offer to buy the book and donate it. There may even be the opportunity to have the titles adopted by book clubs using the argument that there have been many important developments in recent years, and these books provide the necessary background.
Note: The Fluoride Deception by Christopher Bryson, published by Seven Stories Press in 2004, can be read or searched online by clicking on the title.
The archives of The Fluoridation Review are available at: https://
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